Paul Heinrich Theodor Müller (31 January 1896 in

Kiel Kiel ( ; ) is the capital and most populous city in the northern Germany, German state of Schleswig-Holstein. With a population of around 250,000, it is Germany's largest city on the Baltic Sea. It is located on the Kieler Förde inlet of the Ba ...

– after January 1945, declared dead by the District Court of Hohenlimburg in 1953) was a German member of the SS and Concentration Camp Operational Leader ('' Schutzhaftlagerführer'') at

Auschwitz concentration camp Auschwitz, or Oświęcim, was a complex of over 40 Nazi concentration camps, concentration and extermination camps operated by Nazi Germany in Polish areas annexed by Nazi Germany, occupied Poland (in a portion annexed into Germany in 1939) d ...

Life

Müller, a merchant by profession, joined the SS in October 1933 (member no. 179,667), after the ''

Machtergreifung The rise to power of Adolf Hitler, dictator of Nazi Germany from 1933 to 1945, began in the newly established Weimar Republic in September 1919, when Hitler joined the '' Deutsche Arbeiterpartei'' (DAP; German Workers' Party). He quickly rose t ...

''. He then joined the

Nazi Party The Nazi Party, officially the National Socialist German Workers' Party ( or NSDAP), was a far-right politics, far-right political party in Germany active between 1920 and 1945 that created and supported the ideology of Nazism. Its precursor ...

on 1 May 1937 (member no. 4,486,232). By the beginning of

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

in 1939, he was employed at

Sachsenhausen concentration camp Sachsenhausen () or Sachsenhausen-Oranienburg was a German Nazi concentration camp in Oranienburg, Germany, used from 1936 until April 1945, shortly before the defeat of Nazi Germany in May later that year. It mainly held political prisoners t ...

. From 1940 he was employed at the Schutzstaffel Economic-Administrative Main Office, which was at

Flossenbürg concentration camp Flossenbürg was a Nazi concentration camp built in May 1938 by the SS Main Economic and Administrative Office. Unlike other concentration camps, it was located in a remote area, in the Fichtel Mountains of Bavaria, adjacent to the town of Flos ...

. In April 1942, Müller was ordered to

, where until June 1942 he served as '' Kompanieführer'' of the 1st ''Wachkompanie'' (First Guard Company). From July 1942 to October 1943, he served as ''Kompanieführer'' of the 2nd ''Wachkompanie'' in the main camp and was at the same time '' Schutzhaftlagerführer'' of the women's camp in the main camp, which, in August 1942, was converted into the extermination camp of Auschwitz-Birkenau (Auschwitz II). In the women's camp, he worked with ''Oberaufseherinnen''

Johanna Langefeld Johanna Langefeld (née May; 5 March 1900, Kupferdreh, Germany – 26 January 1974) was a Nazi Party, Nazi German Female guards in Nazi concentration camps, guard and supervisor at three Nazi concentration camps: Lichtenburg concentration camp, ...

and, from October 1942,

Maria Mandl Maria Mandl (sometimes erroneously spelled Mandel; 10 January 1912 – 24 January 1948) was an Austrian-born Holocaust perpetrator who was the (camp leader) of the Auschwitz II-Birkenau concentration camp from 1942 until her arrest in 1945. ...

. In August 1943, he was replaced as ''Schutzhaftlagerführer'' in the women's camp by Franz Hössler. In November 1943, he was ''Kompanieführer'' of the 1st and 2nd ''Wachkompanies'' in

Monowitz concentration camp Monowitz (also known as Monowitz-Buna, Buna and Auschwitz III) was a Nazi concentration camp and labor camp (''Arbeitslager'') run by Nazi Germany in occupied Poland from 1942–1945, during World War II and the Holocaust. For most of its existe ...

, which were also responsible for guarding the subcamps of Golleschau and Jawischowitz. On 30 January 1944, Müller was awarded the

War Merit Cross The War Merit Cross () was a state decoration of Nazi Germany during World War II. By the end of the conflict it was issued in four degrees and had an equivalent civil award. A " de-Nazified" version of the War Merit Cross was reissued in 1957 ...

Second Class with Swords. In September 1944, he became head of the newly established satellite camp at Neustadt in Oberschlesien (now

Prudnik Prudnik (, , , ) is a town in southern Poland, located in the southern part of Opole Voivodeship near the border with the Czech Republic. It is the administrative seat of Prudnik County and Gmina Prudnik. Its population numbers 21,368 inhabitant ...

, Poland). It was a weaving mill in which 400 female prisoners were forced to work. He served there until the evacuation of Auschwitz in January 1945.''This article contains a translation of the corresponding article in the

German Wikipedia The German Wikipedia () is the German-language edition of Wikipedia, a free and publicly editable online encyclopedia. Founded on 16 March 2001, it is the second-oldest Wikipedia edition (after the English Wikipedia). It has articles, ma ...

Notes

References

* Wacław Długoborski, Franciszek Piper (Hrsg.). '' Auschwitz 1940–1945. Studien zur Geschichte des Konzentrations- und Vernichtungslagers Auschwitz''. Verlag Staatliches Museum Auschwitz-Birkenau, Oswiecim 1999, 5 Bände: I. Aufbau und Struktur des Lagers. II. Die Häftlinge - Existentzbedingungen, Arbeit und Tod. III. Vernichtung. IV. Widerstand. V. Epilog, . * (eBook ) * {{DEFAULTSORT:Muller, Paul Heinrich Theodor 1896 births 20th-century deaths Year of death unknown Auschwitz concentration camp personnel Flossenbürg concentration camp personnel Sachsenhausen concentration camp personnel Waffen-SS personnel SS-Obersturmführer Schutzhaftlagerführer German merchants